Post by Bandalero on Dec 15, 2021 12:30:58 GMT -5
What they did was just turn him babyface for 1 show
There’s a difference between being cheered as a babyface and being a babyface. MJF was acting babyface, rather than the crowd reacting to his normally heel antics with a baby face reaction. AND I KNOW you guys will say. HE GOT A MASSIVE POP, but he really didn’t. He didn’t. For THAT type of reaction he got, I wouldn’t have changed characters for that. He should have just been the prick he always is and they might have cheered him a little bit more over time.
Put it this way, if you think AEW was confident in MJF getting a babyface reaction, they wouldn’t have sent Punk out to ensure it. And if you don’t think Punk was out there to get MJF over, you’re not paying attention.
I think you're reading waaaay too much into this.
Yes AEW set it up to make sure the crowd would cheer their hometown boy for the sake of storytelling - it was brilliant to bring out Punk. And I disagree, MJF wasn't acting babyface - he ducked most of the battle royal, he furthered the Wardlow breakup feud by dumping his guy outside, he teased saving Dante, he was a prick as he always was. When he came out on stage and got the pop - it was a genuine reaction for sure. But him hamming it up with fans at ringside was just him mocking what babyfaces do - specifically Punk when he lounges with the crowd. Even his wrist flexing was a piss off at what Punk does. So I'm not sure how you can confidently say he turned babyface for one night.
There's no conspiracy here, AEW didn't turn him babyface; he heeled it up and they cheered for it. It's no different than how fans would cheer for the nWo or DX back in the day.
Also think of things from a business perspective - the night in LI they have a chance to push MJF and Dark Order/Silver merch. Why wouldn't you want to get the fans invested in MJF as the hometown hero - I'm sure his merch sales hit an all-time record.